While talking about the Dept. of Defense along side “green” issues would seem oxymoronic, there’s actually quite a bit of environmental sensitivity making its way through the halls of the Pentagon.
Part of that is just a matter of dollars and cents. The DoD has ended up paying tons of money doing environmental clean-up of military bases in the US (at the very least — I have no idea what’s been spent elsewhere in the world). I know, because my company does a lot of that work. Military practices until the 80s and 90s were akin to the worst industrial practices — use whatever chemicals are useful, dump the waste wherever it doesn’t stink up the Officer’s Club, and don’t worry — the press can’t get on the base.
But the base closure acts passed by Congress require the DoD to remediate environmental problems before the lands can be turned over to the public (and off the DoD books). That means cleaning up jet fuel spills, solvent spills, unexploded ordinance, PCBs, and all sorts of other really cool contaminants. I could tell you stories …
The other factor that’s changed over time is the need to treat soldiers right. The lessons of Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome and Depleted Uranium Shells (though both of the latter of these are still of questionable scientific concern) have finally sunk in, and military personnel are demanding a certain level of safety in materials used and handled — and the DoD lawyers are demanding it, too.
This article is all about a new development — the deployment of “green bullets” — which use a tungston alloy head, rather than lead, to keep firing ranges from not becoming any more contaminated than they already are. Interesting stuff.